Nicki Hilliard, PharmD, MHSA, BCNP, FAPhA, Named APhA’s Good Government Pharmacist of the Year

The APhA awards and honors program is the most comprehensive recognition program in the profession of pharmacy.

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) today announced the selection of the 2016 Awards and Honors Program recipients. Honorees will be officially recognized at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Baltimore, Maryland, March 4-7, 2016. The APhA awards and honors program is the most comprehensive recognition program in the profession of pharmacy.

American Pharmacists Association – Profession-Wide Awards:

Remington Honor Medal –Highest Honor in Pharmacy – Leslie Z. Benet, BSPharm, PhD, of San Francisco, CA. The award recognizes distinguished service on behalf of American pharmacy during the preceding years, culminating in the past year or during a long period of outstanding activity or fruitful achievement. This award is considered the highest honor in American Pharmacy.

Hubert H. Humphrey Award – Larry D. Wagenknecht, BSPharm, FMPA, FAPhA, of Haslett, MI. The award recognizes APhA members who have made major contributions in government and legislative service at the local, state or national level.

Good Government Pharmacist-of-the-Year Award – Nicki Hilliard, PharmD, MHSA, BCNP, FAPhA, of Little Rock, AR. The award recognizes an individual pharmacist who actively contributes to the community through his or her involvement in the political process.

Honorary Membership – Kristen G. Betts, BHS, of Lawrenceville, GA. Honorary membership in APhA is conferred by the Board of Trustees upon individuals, either within the profession of pharmacy or outside of it, whose activities and achievements have had a significant positive impact on public health, the pharmacy profession, and its practitioners.

Honorary President – Jean Paul Gagnon, PhD, of Pittstown, NJ. Honorary President of APhA is conferred by the Association upon a member who has made significant contributions to the Association.

Gloria Niemeyer Francke Leadership Mentor Award –Michael A. Moné, BSPharm, JD, FAPhA, of Powell, OH. The award recognizes an individual who has promoted and encouraged pharmacists to attain leadership positions through example, acting as a role model and mentor.

H.A.B. Dunning Award –The Kroger Co. This award recognizes an exemplary contribution to APhA and the practice of pharmacy by a pharmaceutical manufacturer, provider of support products or service, or other entities such as wholesalers, chain corporations, etc.

Distinguished Federal Pharmacist Award –Ronald A. Nosek, Jr., BSPharm, MS, FASHP, of Holidaysburg, PA. The award recognizes pharmacists who distinguish themselves and the profession through outstanding contributions in federal pharmacy practice resulting in significant improvements in the health of the nation and the populations they serve.

Distinguished New Practitioner Award –Veronica Vernon, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, NCMP, of Indianapolis, IN. The award recognizes a new practitioner, within his/her first five years of practice, who has demonstrated distinctive achievements in mentorship, service and commitment to the profession of pharmacy.

Community Pharmacy Residency Excellence in Precepting Award –Margie E. Snyder, PharmD, MPH, of Indianapolis, IN. The award recognizes a community pharmacy residency director or preceptor who has demonstrated excellence in precepting, mentoring, leadership and community pharmacy residency program administration.

Generation Rx Awardof Excellence – Jeffrey Bratberg, PharmD, BCPS, of Attleboro, MA. The award recognizes a pharmacist that has demonstrated a commitment to the mission of substance abuse education.

Fellows of the American Pharmacists Association:

Fellows are either members of the APhA Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APhA-APPM) or the APhA Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science (APhA-APRS) with a minimum of ten years professional experience. To become a Fellow, members must have demonstrated exemplary professional achievements and service to the profession through activities with APhA and other national, state or local professional organizations.

Pharmacy Practice – Richard J. Kowalsky, PharmD, of Chapel Hill, NC. The award recognizes an individual who has developed and/or implemented an innovative, original pharmacy program or service which is significant to their area of practice.

Service – Kimberly Sasser Croley, PharmD, CGP, FASCP, FAPhA, of Corbin, KY and Amy M. Lugo, PharmD, BCPS, BC-ADM, FAPhA, of San Antonio, TX. The award recognizes an individual who has made significant or sustained contributions in the area of service to their community, their state or at the national level.

William H. Briner Distinguished Achievement Award in Nuclear Pharmacy Practice – Sally W. Schwarz, BSPharm, MS, BCNP, of St. Louis, MO. The award recognizes an APhA-APPM member who has made significant or sustained contributions to the practice of nuclear pharmacy.

Pharmacy Management Excellence Award – William F. Sheridan, II, BSPharm, of Hilton Head Island, SC. The award recognizes an APhA member, in any practice setting, who has distinguished himself/herself and the profession through outstanding performance in the area of pharmacy management.

American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science (APhA-APRS) Awards:

Clinical Research Paper Award – Heidi R. Luder, PharmD, of Cincinnati, OH. The award promotes and encourages high quality clinical research or practice based research in the clinical sciences by recognizing an original research article in this area which has been published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA). Luder was selected in recognition of her paper, “TransitionRx: Impact of community pharmacy postdischarge medication therapy management on hospital readmission rate,” which was published in the May/June 2015 issue of the JAPhA.

Ebert Prize – Christoph Thiel, MS, of Aachen, Germany. The award recognizes the author(s) of the best report of original investigation of a medicinal substance published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the past year. Thiel was selected in recognition of his paper, “A systematic evaluation of the use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling for cross-species extrapolation,” published in the November 12, 2014, online issue of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Drug Transport and Metabolism.

Research Achievement Award in the Pharmaceutical Sciences – Myron (Mike) K. Jacobson, PhD, of Fort Worth, TX. The award recognizes and encourages outstanding, meritorious achievement in any of the pharmaceutical sciences.

Wiederholt Prize – Pamela C. Heaton, BSPharm, PhD, of Cincinnati, OH. The award recognizes the best paper published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA), within the past two calendar years, describing original investigation in the areas of economic, social or administrative sciences. Heaton was selected in recognition of her paper, “U.S. emergency departments visits resulting from poor medication adherence: 2005–07,” published in the September/October 2013 issue of the JAPhA.

Good Government Student Pharmacist-of-the-Year Award – Hanna M. Burgin, University of Cincinnati James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy. The award recognizes a student pharmacist who has successfully organized student pharmacist grassroots activity within their chapter and actively promoted the value of advocating for the profession.

Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award – Cherokee Layson-Wolf, PharmD, CGP, BCACP, FAPhA, of Baltimore, Maryland. The award recognizes advisors of APhA-ASP Chapters who have promoted, with distinction, the welfare of student pharmacists through various patient care project, community outreach, leadership development and professional opportunities.

Outstanding Dean Award – Larry Calhoun, PharmD, of Johnson City, Tennessee. The award recognizes school or college of pharmacy Deans who have made significant contributions to APhA-ASP chapters and who have promoted, with distinction, the welfare of student pharmacists through various community service, leadership and professional activities.